Massachusetts Cultural Council Selects Wainer Woods for Photography Project

Professional photographer and Westport resident Merri Cyr has been awarded a “Grant for Creative Individuals” by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, to document the development of Wainer Woods, LLC, an Indigenous botanical farm and retreat in Westport, MA created by Chief Nij-Pajikwat-Mo`z (Chief Two Running Elk), aka Robert Cox.

Wainer Woods exists as the historic Cuffee-Wainter family farm, purchased by African-Indigenous businessman and philanthropist Paul Cuffee, the wealthiest person of color in the 18th century, then sold to his brother-in-law Michael Wainer in 1799. “Land conservation and sustainability efforts, the building of medicinal foraging trails, non-GMO row crops and banking of regional native tribal seeds will all be highlighted in future photography and video projects,” says Chief Two Running Elk.

Cyr worked as a fine art and commercial photographer for decades, focusing on musicians, artists and actors; she returned to Westport in 2019 to create art and culture projects that help enrich the community. Grants for Creative Individuals is Mass Cultural Council’s primary funding program providing unrestricted financial support to artists, culture bearers and creative practitioners.

Grants for Creative Individuals awards unrestricted grants to individuals in all creative fields: visual artists, literary artists, theater artists, performers, film/media artists, music artists, designers, culture bearers/traditional artists, drag artists, cross-disciplinary artists, and more.

The Agency received 4,470 applications total to the program. Approximately 98% of the grantees are receiving their first grant from Mass Cultural Council.

Mass Cultural Council receives an annual appropriation from the state Legislature and funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, and others. Details on our budget are available online. In turn, Mass Cultural Council makes thousands of grants directly to cultural organizations, schools, communities, and individuals artists, through funding programs that use arts, science, and the humanities to build strong, diverse, livable communities.